Deceiving Appearances
by HinaGuy749
Summary: The sealing of the Kyuubi has had an unexpected effect on Naruto's appearance and as a result he has led a more withdrawn life and is now a far cry from the loudmouthed ninja we know him as. Some OOCness on Naruto's part. Pairings not yet decided, more in
1. Chapter 1

Okay this is one of my first Naruto fics and I'm still getting used to writing them so go easy on me, I have another one that is more of a romance fic that will have almost no action in it but this one will follow the normal timeline and therefor have a lot more action and very little romance until a little later in the fic. Not sure on pairings yet and there will be no character bashing in this fic so all you people who hate Sakura or Sasuke or whoever are gonna be sorely disappointed. What I do know is that there will be no normal pairings so no SasuSaku(no offence but there's no way he's straight), NaruHina(she's cute but it's been done to death), ShikaIno, NaruSaku(like it but not for this fic), ShikaTema, NejiTen(that pairing actually kinda annoys me). Hell I might just pair him up with an OC or just some regular village girl instead of one of the kunoichis but that's a long ways off. So anyways, here's my take on the Naruto story, I hope you guys like it.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and quite frankly don't want to own it, I have enough trouble managing the things I do own let alone something this stressful.**

**Deceiving Appearances**

Chapter One: Fox Features

In Naruto's apartment…

Naruto woke up earlier than usual, for today was no ordinary day. It was the day he would be assigned to a gennin team and start his life as a real shinobi. 'Finally, I can realize my dream to become a great shinobi and gain everyone's respect' Naruto thought to himself as he threw on his extra-baggy pants and shirt. As he walked across the room he carefully wrapped a long scarf around his face and slipped on a pair of gloves and boots. 'Maybe I could even meet a girl and ask her out…nah, who'd go out with someone who looked like me…stupid fox' thought Naruto as he put on a rather large jacket that came down to his knees, pulled a pair of sunglasses out of his coat pocket put them on, and pulled the over-sized hood up over his head.

As he walked out he door he received the usual knowing looks from the adults that told him they knew what he was underneath all those clothes and the questioning looks from those too young to know his secret. He easily heard the whispers from the people around him as he walked down the street towards his favorite restaurant Ichiraku Ramen for his usual breakfast bowl of ramen.

When he arrived at the small ramen stand he was greeted by the old man that ran the place, one of the few people that knew his secret and didn't look at his strangely. "Hey Naruto, you're unusually chipper today what's the occasion" said the old man with a crooked grin. Naruto wasn't surprised at his comment, for the old man had long since been able to read Naruto's emotions even if he couldn't see any part of him.

Naruto smiled underneath his scarf and said "Today's the day I get assigned to a team and start my life as a shinobi". Old man Ichiraku's smile grew even larger as he said "That's great, then maybe you could take off all that junk you wear and get yourself a nice girlfriend like my daughter here" as he placed his hand on her shoulder to emphasize his point. To which she simple hit him over the head and said "I think maybe Naruto-kun should try dating someone closer to his own age dad" through clenched teeth. Then she gave Naruto a wink and added "Though in a few years I might take my dad's suggestion…that is if I ever get to see that face of yours, I'll bet it's cute".

Naruto blushed at her comment then switched to a more depressed and serious mood saying "No it isn't…I gotta go, thanks for the ramen see you later" and left before either could rebuke his self-degrading comment.

Back on the streets…

Naruto made his way to the academy in his usual quite way, keeping his head down the whole way. He walked into the classroom and ignored the questioning glances from the other kids, wondering, even after all these years why he dressed the way he did and even more so, what he looked like. He certainly gave Shino a run for his money when it came to looking strange and mysterious, though Shino didn't seem to mind.

He quietly took his seat in the back of the room next Uchiha Sasuke and sat in silence until the teacher came into the room, occasionally casting his gaze around the room to see what the other kids were doing. When their teacher, Umino Iruka, finally entered the classroom and gave his mandatory shout in an attempt to quiet his students Naruto looked up and focused all his attention on the team selections.

Finally he heard his name being called "Team Seven Uzumaki Naruto…" to which everyone immediately looked at him intently wondering who would be his teammates. "Haruno Sakura…" said girl looked disappointed while Naruto made no move to suggest whether he agreed or objected to this arrangement. "And Uchiha Sasuke." This caught everyone's attention as well, as he was the object of interest/affection for most of the students. Neither boy seemed to give much thought to the team selection but Sakura on the other hand was ecstatic to find out that she would be on the same team as her crush and wandered of into a daze thinking of elaborate scenarios that involved herself and the young Uchiha.

"Ok everyone, you will now wait here for your jounin sensei" Iruka said before he left the room, after which every few minutes a jounin would come in and pick up his or her team, until finally only Team Seven was left. It was only after a few hours that their sensei arrived to a fuming Sakura, a neutral Sasuke and a unreadable Naruto, though you could see something twitching underneath his hood, poking at the material.

"Yo…"was the jounin's only reply to their vehement stares, the he turned around walking towards the door but stopped and looked over his shoulder saying "meet me on the roof" before walking out.

On the academy roof…

"So, lets start by introducing ourselves, you know your name, like and dislikes, dreams, hobbies things like that" Kakashi said in the most bored monotonic voices he could muster.

Sakura spoke up first "could you go first so that we have an idea of what to say" she said choosing her words carefully.

"Ok, My name is Hatake Kakashi, I have no intention of telling you my likes and dislikes. My dream is…I have hobbies." was the Jounin's limited reply.

It was Naruto this time that spoke up in an even yet somewhat nervous tone "all we found out was your name, that wasn't very helpful, aren't you going to tell us anything else about you?"

"No, now it's your turn" Kakashi said pointing to Sakura.

Sakura stood up and began to speak "My name is Haruno Sakura, my likes are... er," she glanced at Sasuke and blushed "I dislike Ino pig and people picking on my looks. My dreams are..." she blushed again and looked over at Sasuke, "My hobbies are..." Again she blushed and looked at Sasuke.

'Well she seems to have a one-track mind' Kakashi thought to himself. "Ok, now you" he said while pointing to Sasuke.

Sasuke didn't bother to get up, he merely sat there "My name is Uchiha Sasuke there isn't much I like, there is a lot I don't like, and what I have is not a dream but an ambition to kill a certain man and restore my clan." Said Sasuke in his usual serious tone.

'So that's his plan aye, this could be troublesome' were Kakashi's thoughts. "Alright, now you." Kakashi said looking towards Naruto.

Naruto Slowly stood up and spoke in a low, somewhat nervous voice that he used when talking to people he didn't really know "My name is Uzumaki Naruto, I like ramen and kind people, I dislike people who judge people by their appearance," at this Sakura smiled and nodded. "My dream is to be accepted by everyone for who I am, and my hobbies are reading and making clothes."

'So that's the kyuubi kid, this could be interesting,' Kakashi thought. "Ok, so does anyone have any questions for anyone" asked the jounin.

Sakura looked like she was thinking hard for a moment than spoke up "Yeah, I got a question for Naruto over there, why do you always wear all those clothes and never show your face, what's under there?" This caught Kakashi's attention and made Naruto freeze up.

Naruto started to sweat underneath all his clothes 'Ah man, why did she have to ask that question, what am I gonna do now. Should I show them, I'll have to show them sooner or later so it might as well be now while we're just getting started.' As he looked around he took a deep breath, 'ok, here goes nothing'

Naruto stood up slowly, saying he'd show them, which answered with surprised looks from all parties. First he pulled his hood back and took his coat off, setting it down on the roof then slipped off his gloves revealing two clawed hands covered in a very short and fine dark-red fur (like Nightcrawler's fuzz in X-2). This caused the two gennin present to gasp and widen their eyes but the surprises were just beginning. He then took off his boots showing two pawed dog-looking feet covered in the same fine fur, before they could say anything nine fur-covered tails slipped out from under his baggy shirt, swaying in the afternoon air. Again before they could voice their shock, Naruto revealed his biggest surprise by taking off his sunglasses revealing two red eyes with slit pupils then proceeded to unwrap the scarf from his head. What was revealed shocked everyone including Kakashi, for he had never had a chance to see Naruto before, he had only heard stories.

From under the scarf popped out two long red ears about a foot in length that twitched every so often. When he removed the rest of the scarf you could see his face which looked very fox-like with his nose and mouth extending out farther than it should and a set of fangs protruded slightly from his mouth. His eyes were longer and more narrow than normal and his face was covered in that same short red fur. From the top of his head jutted long spikes of red hair/fur that hung loosely around his head down to his shoulders.

Naruto stood there in all his fox-like glory, waiting for the reactions of his teammates.

Sakura's mouth was hanging wide open for a few more seconds, then she shook her head and frowned "If you didn't want to show us what you looked like, you could have just said so instead of using Henge to make this up" Sakura huffed thinking Naruto was messing with them.

"I'm afraid Naruto is not using a jutsu to change his appearance Sakura, this is really what he looks like" Kakashi said, stepping in.

Both Sasuke and Sakura stared at him then at Naruto then back at him again. "What do you mean Kakashi-sensei, how can he look like that, what is he, a demon?" Sakura questioned repeatedly.

"No, he is not a demon Sakura, he has looked like this since he was a baby though I am not allowed to tell you why he looks the way he does." Answered Kakashi before he continued "though this does not make him any less human and you should not treat him any differently just because of his appearance."

Sakura looked thoughtful for a moment before looking at Naruto and saying "well I guess it doesn't really change things and his ears and tails are kinda cute." If his fur wasn't red you would see a brilliant blush on his face at her comment, but it didn't last long once her next one came. "But you better not give me fleas or else…"

Naruto frowned at this and shouted in a agitated voice "I don't have fleas so you can just keep you big mouth shut forehead girl" Naruto had remembered a girl calling her this before and noted that she didn't really appreciate it.

"What did you call me you giant fuzz ball" Sakura shrieked waving her fists in a very unladylike fashion.

This went on for some time all the while the other two sat back and made various assumptions of what their future would be like.

"These two are so annoying, why did I have to get stuck with a bunch of idiots like this" Sasuke thought to himself hoping that this wouldn't get in the way of his training or keep him from becoming strong enough to kill his brother.

"Well this will be amusing, I'm actually hoping that these guys pass the test" thought Kakashi. When he looked over towards the two, they were using their thumbs to stretch each other's cheeks out, "though if they keep this up it'll never happen."

"Et ur arry umms ou ah i outh uzz all" Sakura mumbled out.

"u irst ore ead irl" Naruto mumbled back.

This went on for another hour or so before they both collapsed from exhaustion, rubbing their cheeks.

Kakashi just stood there thinking 'I wonder when the next volume of Icha Icha Paradise comes out'

**Author's Notes: Okay everyone what do you think good, bad, needs work, review and give your comments, suggestions, and constructive criticism, hell even flames are welcome, they're always fun to read. Remember those who don't review are Communists (I'm serious that really is considered Communism). **

**Also Naruto is in no way a demon or part demon, he is simply an anthropomorphic fox-boy, though he will have better hearing and smell since he is part fox, also I guess he could use his claws, after all they are pretty sharp though not cut-through-steel sharp and I guess he could maybe trip someone with his tails, maybe not. His fur is very short and smooth kind if like Valour, which feels reel nice, my futon mattress is made from it.**

**Another thing, a lot of you are probably wondering about Naruto's OOCness in this fic, well the reason is that because of his appearance in this fic he is a lot more shy and reserved and he tries NOT to be noticed so as to blend in, which is why he's so quiet and withdrawn most of the time, but that all is gonna change and Sakura's brash attitude is gonna be the catalyst that makes it all happen. Don't go jumping to conclusions though, like I said before this is NOT gonna be a NaruSaku fic they'lljust be good friends (hell I might make him her pet). Also there will definitely be scene of him walking on all fours with his tails wagging (it'll look kinda like kyuubi in the first episode only the face and body are a bit more human).**


	2. Good News

Ok people I've got some good news. First, I haven't given up on this story or any of my other ones I've just been in a rut mostly trying to update this fic and write for the 3 to god knows how many new fics I'm trying to start. On top of that I work at a really fancy restaurant and it's the holiday season so I've been very busy(kinda makes me wish I was still smokin weed). But on to the good news, I've come to the conclusion that I have no clue where to go with this fic so I'm gonna Leave the entire storyline open to the control of the readers. I will take suggestion from everybody and pick the most popular ones, this will make it a lot easier on me to write this fic and you guy will still get the enjoyment of reading it, also those whose suggestion are used will be mentioned in the chapter they are used in.

Now I will say that there will be some boundaries as far as what suggestions I use as in I will not do character bashings though there can be minor bashing if it's justified. I will also take a poll for the pairing too but again there are some rules, first, no yaoi unless you can give a good plot for it but I will refuse Sasuke being paired with him because I refuse to pollute the site with more of that pairing. That brings me to my next stipulation, I would prefer no Naruto/Hinata, now before you naruhina fans go and bite my head off I don't hate the pairing I just think there's too much of it out there and that I couldn't write it well enough to justify it's existence. I will allow a harem but please nothing too big, no more than five-six people. I will also take suggestion for side pairings.

Now with that said I implore you my readers to get back to me as soon as possible so I can start writing. Either pm me from my profile page, put it in a review of send an email to my address that is listed on my profile. Anyways thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope I get a lot of replies with a lot of good suggestions.


End file.
